You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? In the preceding chapter, a section of the gathered crowd had asked Jesus for a sign from heaven to prove, as it were, that his many miracles had the backing of God and not the prince of demons (cf. Luke 11:14ff). Jesus refused to give in to their request, telling them that the only thing they needed to know was that the kingdom of God had already been inaugurated. As a matter of fact, the miracles he was working was proof enough that the kingdom was already in their midst. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus reprimands the crowd for their failure to wake up to the reality. He reprimands them for failing to interpret the events of their time all of which were pointing to the fulfillment of the time.
Although the reprimand appears to be carrying some eschatological overtones, Jesus issued it as part of a general instruction that he was giving. He was surprised at the failure of the people to recognize what was happening in their midst so as to act. He was amazed at their indifference. How was it that they were finding it impossible to see God acting on their behalf in what Jesus was doing? How come they were constantly subjecting the good that Jesus was doing to a debate? Time was not on their side, and they had better choose sides before it was too late. The kingdom had already been inaugurated, and the invitation had been extended to everybody. The choice was theirs to make.